斯里兰卡的古老土著居民 维达人

<正>斯里兰卡地处南亚,是印度洋中的一个岛国。斯里兰卡大部分属热带雨林气候,终年炎热,雨水丰沛,森林茂密。在森林中,生活着一个特殊的部族——维达人。2015年3月,我和朋友在斯里兰卡向导的带领下,拜访了离康提3小时左右车程的维达人部落。维达人是斯里兰卡的少数民族,也是斯里兰卡最古老的土著居民,又称吠陀人。相传维达人的祖先早在斯里兰卡岛与南亚次大陆分离之前,就已生活在从印度中部直到斯里兰卡的土地上了。公元前5世纪左右,来自次大陆北部的雅利安人进入斯     

The Poverty Discourse and the Poor in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is cited as an exemplary case of direct poverty alleviation because of a long history of social welfare and high values in quality of life indices. Notwithstanding, anti-poverty measures in Sri Lanka founded on the international discourse of poverty and development do not serve the interests of poor people. This discourse begins by locating poor people in a distinct poverty sector and proceeds to examine its characteristics. Several attributes of that discourse make it intellectually incapable of seeing how poverty is socially constructed in a diffused nexus of production relations that extends far beyond the so-called 'poverty sector'. An alternative 'substantive approach to poverty' is presented. The arguments are illustrated using the theme of food production in Sri Lanka.     

斯里兰卡 听印度洋眼泪中的石头故事

正斯里兰卡,听名字就是一个非常美丽的地方,它是印度南面的一个岛国,地图上就在印度的下面,岛的形状像一滴眼泪,所以它被称为"印度洋的眼泪"。那是一个海洋的国度,蓝天白云映衬的金沙碧海装扮着那里,如同一颗眼泪荡漾在印度洋上。而当你以为水的温柔便是它的全部时,它却用石头的坚硬诉说起古老的故事,那故事里,有传奇,有信仰,更有着人们的生活。带着那份向往一步步走进斯里兰     

斯里兰卡掠影

斯里兰卡原名为“锡兰”,我国古籍中称其为“师（狮）子国”,今人喻其为“印度洋的眼泪”。研究中外文化交流的一些学者认为斯里兰卡是海上丝绸之路的重要一站,这诚然不假;但对于法显、玄奘等通过西域到南亚的西行求法者来说,对于公元5世纪时已是城中“多萨薄商人”,“诸国商人共市易”（法显《佛国记》）之地,斯里兰卡又何尝不是陆上丝绸之路的一处终点呢？     

探访斯里兰卡“大象孤儿院”

<正>去"孤儿院"看大象斯里兰卡野生动物局于1975年建造了一所大象孤儿院,主要收养那些在丛林中失去母亲的幼象,这座大象孤儿院是世界上第一所大象孤儿院,位于距科伦坡约3小时路程的品纳维拉(Pinnawela)小镇。孤儿院成立30多年来,共收养了近百头大象。斯里兰卡大象是全球大象家族中较为独特的分支:它们不如非洲大象块头大,耳朵尤其小,成年后,象的耳朵、脸和鼻子周围的皮肤甚至还会显出一块与众不同的粉红色斑。目前世界上存在两所大象孤儿     

War,Livelihoods and Vulnerability in Sri Lanka

As the number of de‐stabilized regions of warfare or post‐war conditions worldwide continues to grow, this article investigates how civilians survive in the context of a civil war. It analyses livelihood strategies of farmers in the war‐torn areas of Sri Lanka, using an analytical framework based on a revised form of DFID's sustainable rural livelihoods approach, placing particular attention on the institutional reproduction of household capital assets in the war economy. The author delineates a three pillar model of household livelihood strategies focusing on how households (1) cope with the increased level of risk and uncertainty; (2) adjust their economic and social household assets for economic survival; and (3) use their social and political assets as livelihood strategies. Empirical evidence comes from four case study villages in the east of Sri Lanka. Although the four case studies were very close together geographically, their livelihood outcomes differed considerably depending on the very specific local political geography. The role of social and political assets is essential: while social assets (extended family networks) were important to absorb migrants, political assets (alliances with power holders) were instrumental in enabling individuals, households or economic actors to stabilize or even expand their livelihood options and opportunities. The author concludes that civilians in conflict situations are not all victims (some may also be culprits in the political economy of warfare), and that war can be both a threat and an opportunity, often at the same time.     

Authoritarianism in the Age of Market Liberalism in Sri Lanka

The agenda for “good governance” postulates that it constitutes both a precondition for and an outcome of economic development. In direct opposition, neo-Marxist analyses assert a causal link between economic liberalization and bureaucratic-authoritarian regimes. This article argues that the relationship between governance and economic development cannot be resolved in such abstract and ahistorical terms but must be approached through concrete analyses of political strategies around and within the post-colonial state. A closer examination of authoritarianism and economic liberalization in Sri Lanka supports this argument.     

The dry tank: development and disuse of water management infrastructure in the Anuradhapura hinterland,Sri Lanka

We identify and offer new explanations of change in water management infrastructure in the semi-arid urban hinterland of Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka between ca. 400 BC and AD 1800. Field stratigraphies and micromorphological analyses demonstrate that a complex water storage infrastructure was superimposed over time on intermittently occupied and cultivated naturally wetter areas, with some attempts in drier locations. Our chronological framework, based on optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) measurement, indicates that this infrastructure commenced sometime between 400 and 200 BC, continued after Anuradhapura reached its maximum extent, and largely went into disuse between AD 1100 and 1200. While the water management infrastructure was eventually abandoned, it was succeeded by small-scale subsistence cultivation as the primary activity on the landscape. Our findings have broader resonance with current debates on the timing of introduced ‘cultural packages’ together with their social and environmental impacts, production and symbolism in construction activities, persistent stresses and high magnitude disturbances in ‘collapse’, and the notion of post ‘collapse’ landscapes associated with the management of uncertain but essential resources in semi-arid environments.